Forever and a Day
by HuskiBunni
Summary: They knew it was an exaggeration but it was exactly what it felt like. - Gradual EllisxZoey. Rated T for now but will change to M later on.
1. Chapter 1

First L4D story. My plot bunnies have been at it and I've got most of the story written down in rough because of it.

**Disclaimer: Left 4 Dead 1 & 2 belong to Valve.**

Edited a bit.**  
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He was tired, so very tired but he kept walking. _They_ had to keep walking, needed to make it to shelter before it went dark again.

Dusty plains and the odd bush stripped bare of leaves was all there was in front, to the sides and behind them. The pair before him shuffled forwards and blue eyes fell on them; Nick and Rochelle.

The conman had his arm around the darker skinned woman's shoulders as she carried him, her arm around his waist as support. Ellis had offered to carry Nick but Rochelle was persistent, insisting she carried him. He couldn't sway her but he immediately forgave and forgot when she gave him Nick's shotgun and her axe, which he buried seconds later into a man's skull. A huge, silly grin plastered on his face.

The fun had worn off a while ago now and concern for the gambler started to creep into his mind; Nick had fallen prey to a Charger and one of his ribs looked broken from the sheer impact of being slammed into a concrete wall. His back was bleeding too but they hadn't had a single health pack this entire journey since leaving the train. They were just lucky to have found those two weapons lying around in a ditch.

The hick looked down at the shotgun in his hands and grief overcame him; Coach would have liked this gun. He didn't realise he'd stopped walking until he heard a yelp from Nick further ahead.

His head snapped up, almost losing his trucker hat from how quickly he moved and saw Rochelle buckle under the conman's full weight on her. It then became apparent the man had passed out from the pain he was in.

The short outburst from the dark haired man alerted a few nearby infected and they came, mouths agape and shrieking what seemed to be words.

God they ran quick.

Ellis ran forwards and in a blind panic slammed the butt of the shotgun into the head of the closest zombie. He then hastily spun round, not wanting to waste time in checking the woman was dead, and unloaded the remaining six bullets into the oncoming horde.

Some fell instantly whilst others had holes blown into them, staggering backwards before resuming their blind charge, blood and some intestines falling out after them, marking the path they took.

He dropped the shotgun and pulled the axe off his back, swinging it and decapitating a man in one fluid motion before doubling back and chopping the arm off another. He had practiced that manoeuvre so many times on their way to New Orleans he now did it without even thinking.

He saw Rochelle stand up from the corner of his eye, with the empty shotgun in her grasp. She stood protectively over Nick, lying in the recovery position, and was slamming what part she could of the gun into the infected, sending some straight to the floor and some reeling backwards into others and making them stumble.

The Southerner smirked; just like old times, but then his joy was short-lived as he recalled they were missing Coach. His blood boiled and he let out a sudden yell of anger as he sent the blade of the axe straight down into another man's head, actually cutting down to the divot between his collarbones.

They had trusted the government, CEDA and the military in saving them. They had seen the warnings written by others on the saferoom walls. They had seen the bodies actually lying _inside_ the saferoom before crossing the bridge to the helicopter. It was when they were on the train he'd 'hotwired' into life did they realise what they meant by the term 'carriers'.

Another male infected lost his head.

They were all carriers, infecting others who came within a certain distance from them. They were infected themselves but also immune, or that's what the scientist who came back with their results told them anyway. It was the scientist who told them to flee as well before the military found out about them - the only four carriers in the centre.

They waited for nightfall to leave.

The scientist came for them, lying about needing to test on them again before sneaking them round the back, behind the mess tent. High wire-mesh fences barricaded them in and of course Nick had to have found a pair of pliers in a nearby supply tent. He looked so smug.

The scientist kept a lookout and all was going well until a passing guard spotted them. They never thought to check for watch towers. The alarm that followed was deafening and in truth Ellis could still hear it.

Both he and Rochelle had made it through by the time the scientist had run in the opposite direction to buy them some time. It was only a few seconds though before he slid along the floor, following a loud echo from a rifle.

Nick had crawled through by then and was busy helping Coach when a guard ran into their line of sight. He then spun round and alerted others but when he turned back they were already sprinting away, in the direction the late scientist had told them to go.

Coach cracked a small joke about "being too old for this shit" before a rifle fired and he fell over a split second later. He rolled onto his back and sat up, clutching his leg where the bullet had hit him. His knee, which ironically was the one causing him trouble, had shattered. Nick went down to help him but the burly man brushed him away, shaking his head.

"Go. I'll buy yas some time."

Of course they protested but when they saw guards run round the outside of the fence they were jolted into action by the sudden bark from the elder of the group. The hick and Rochelle had taken off but hastily doubled back when they realised Nick was still stood behind him, giving his shoulder a squeeze. Coach looked up and gave him a friendly smile.

"Be seein' ya." His voice was soft.

The conman looked distraught but managed to find his voice, "Yeah." He smiled back, "See you." Then he took off, spurring the other two into chasing after him.

They ran towards the storage warehouse where a 'form of transport' was waiting for them; a bright orange freight train minus the freight cars. Ellis slid the door shut and with the help of Nick along with a huge surge of adrenaline, pushed the largest items nearby to try and prevent the gate from opening again.

A loud resonating bang echoed from outside and the trio froze all eyes wide in disbelief.

_Coach…_

Rochelle was fighting back tears as was the hick himself. Nick hastily shook himself out of the grief and set to the task at getting on-board the diesel engine.

Hauling himself into the cab he looked the controls over only briefly before calling out, "Overalls, can you hotwire this to life?"

He did, but it was more of putting a single loose wire back into place than overriding the system – he decided to humour the conman though, even if it was for five minutes before Rochelle began to mourn their fallen comrade.

He also manned the controls, looking through teary eyes to drive the metal beast. Rochelle had her head buried in Nick's shirt, sobs racking her body. The white suited man was looking out the window glumly, holding the hysterical woman close.

Then they found themselves here when the electrics failed altogether.

The final stragglers from the horde fell to sharp blows to the head courtesy of the news reporter. The shotgun fell from her hands and she moved to pick the conman up again. Ellis walked to the other side of Nick and stooped down, putting the free arm around his neck he lifted at the same time as Rochelle.

They resumed walking following the dusty path into nowhere.

Five long gruelling hours had passed before they found any sign of civilisation.

His foot connected with the door, not wanting to put Nick down again just to open a simple object, but it only dented under his heavy work boot.

They had found a town and the small warehouse Rochelle spotted seemed to be their safest bet at the moment, being built out of metal goodness knows how thick.

He tried again and the handle split but the door jolted, still on the catch. A final time smashed the door wide open.

A bullet suddenly ricocheted off the wall beside his head and he couldn't stop the startled yelp escaping him as he flinched. Rochelle started, rocking Nick with her motion and her wide, alarmed eyes locked onto Ellis' fearful ones. The hick buckled slightly under the weight distribution of the gambler.

"Hunter!" A voice came from inside the building.

The hick looked into the darkness and then behind him suddenly, panicking since he couldn't run holding the conman up like this. His anxiety soon became confusion; there was no Hunter nearby, only the rundown buildings basking in the setting sun and a few long dead commons. He looked back into the warehouse and, before he had a chance to react, heard a bang and a searing pain erupted in his left arm.

He saw blood.

A lot of blood.

His blood.

He yelled in agony and dropped the conman, both falling to the floor. Rochelle reacted just in time to move herself so she wasn't brought down as well and hastily rushed to the hillbilly's side, "Ellis!"

The mechanic remained on his side, clutching his shoulder. Pain was etched across his face and his knuckles were turning white, blood seeping through his fingers.

There was laughter from inside the building, "I shot a hunter with a name!" The man continued laughing but then it died away suddenly, "Wait…"

The hick screwed his eyes shut, hissing through his teeth as Rochelle crouched down next to him, her hand over his. "Let me see." He shook his head; the pain was too much. "Ellis-"

"See if Nick's all right first Ro." His voice was forced out as he cracked an eye open at the gambler, whom was lying with his head near the hick's calf. Ellis turned his own and slowly half-smiled at the woman, the bill of his cap covering the top part of his face in shadow, "He's worse 'n me."

She looked at him worriedly but knew Ellis was right; Nick was much, much worse with his injuries and, in all honesty, she'd kill whoever it was who made the mechanic drop him like that.

The hick watched her move over to the other man and he tried to sit up, groaning when the burning came back.

Cringing, he slowly looked at his shoulder, now dyed red with his blood before he shakily wrenched his own hand off the joint. Blood gushed out like a river and flowed down his arm, staining patches of his mustard yellow shirt and blue overalls a deep crimson. He grabbed his upper arm to steady the shaking and tried to look at the wound but all he saw was blood.

He knew he had been shot, and whoever it was had burst an artery, but he couldn't see the bullet there was too much blood. Despite that though, he was impressed with the accuracy of the projectile.

He heard footsteps rush down some metal stairs inside the warehouse and groggily he looked up, blood loss slowly taking over him. A large, black-vested man stood in the doorway, a moderately large gun in his hands, the culprit to his bullet wound. He couldn't identify it though as his vision was becoming so blurred from the lack of oxygen getting to his brain he just weakly raised a thumb and smiled,

"Nice…" He felt his head roll to one side and his eyes closed against his will, his torso threatening to go with momentum, "shot…" His body succumbed to gravity and he fell, blackness creeping over him.


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry about the wait for this but I've been mucking about in Gmod, drawing reference sheets and planning stuff for my other story - also work. Valentine's Day was quite busy with the chocolate and card industry. However, seeing as it's a while before Mother's Day I've managed to finally complete this chapter.

I have to apologise as well - I don't live in America so my knowledge on such slang and geographical locations are a bit... not there so to say. I am researching however just for this story so I know where to make them go and roughly how long it'll take too [sad I know but I like to be correct]. Hope you like the chapter, I actually had a lot of fun writing it and stayed up until 4am I lost track of time. My boyfriend is my beta-reader but his grammar is a bit bad [he admits it] but he keeps an eye on any plot holes I may have put in by accident. I intend on going back through all of this when I've got back into my full writing mode and correct all grammatical errors, so just bear with me :)

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Left 4 Dead characters. I only own a copy of both games**.

Edited this a bit.

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It was a light tingle at first but he dismissed it, like you do. However, as he regained consciousness the tingle began to intensify in strength: a light pinch but steadily escalated to a sharp stabbing pain, then finally the burning he remembered from earlier.

Ellis sat bolt upright suddenly, almost head-butting the person stooped over him and he yelled out in sheer agony. His right hand swept round to give his boiling shoulder a death grip - a vain attempt to stifle the stinging - but his wrist was caught. His blurred vision fell onto the figure next to him, wearing a white top. The only thing he could identify.

"Lie back down." A female voice said soothingly. Ellis' head was feeling that muddled up he couldn't tell where it came from and he just blinked.

The figure gently pressed a cool palm against his chest, trying to encourage him to do the simple action but he resisted. He couldn't lie back down when he knew Nick was seriously injured and his shoulder was burning painfully.

"Where's Nick?" His voice was croaky and his throat was painfully dry. He then wondered how long he'd been out for.

"He's fine. Just lie back down for me, please." His eyes were getting some focus back now and they locked onto the back of the girl's head as she turned. "Pills have worn off Louis."

There was a shuffle and movement at the far end of the seemingly large but dimly lit room caught the hick's attention, "Already? Damn."

He'd heard that name before, but in his current state he could not remember. His eyes then hurt and he moaned. Dipping his head, he went to push the heels of his hands into his sockets but the pain angrily stirred back to life in his joint. He yelped and the brunette before him jumped in shock and stared at him, her ponytail swishing with momentum.

_Ponytail_…?

He blinked and her face came into perfect view suddenly.

_Oh Lord…_

He couldn't stop himself from blushing and had to look away, feigning interest in his arm. But then he did become curious with the dressing on it.

Ellis almost missed the dark-skinned man crouch down and offer him a bottle of pain pills along with a plastic cup of some liquid.

"The bullet was deep," Louis started, watching the hillbilly glance at the pain relief but went back to the bandages slowly turning red around his shoulder, "it took me ages to find it." Ellis then groped out for the bottle of pills not taking his eyes off the top of his limb being far too intrigued by it.

"Ellis, watch what you're doing!"

The hick's head snapped up, "Nick?" His eyes fell onto the man reclining in a very tired looking armchair ten feet from him with Rochelle tending to a small cut on his head. His suit jacket was hanging off the back of it and a mixture of gauze and tape covered his torso, easily visible with his blue dress shirt unbuttoned and hanging open. Ellis beamed and attempted to get up but his shoulder burned ferociously and he swore loudly, falling backwards.

The girl swooped down and caught his wrist again - just in time to stop him from grasping his shoulder. Her eyebrows lowered as she inspected his joint and then she locked eyes with him. His breath hitched. _So beautiful…_ He could swim in that green; the green of grass and oak leaves on a warm summer's day.

His stomach jolted and he almost – _almost _– reached out to her when she put her gaze back onto his shoulder. He meekly swallowed and did a double-take at how red the gauze was around his burning wound.

"I'm sorry, but I'll have to cauterize it…" Her voice was a little unsteady but Ellis chose to ignore it, knowing his angel knew what she was doing.

"Ya mean burn it?" Keep her talking. He loved hearing her voice, despite the seriousness of the situation in regards to his steadily increasing blood loss, it was keeping him calm though. Somewhat, at least.

Those green pools locked with his again and he almost grinned in delight if it wasn't for the fact that she looked hesitant. She nodded silently and looked at Louis still crouched next to her. A silent message was passed on and the man in the red tie scooted forwards before giving the hick the pain pills,

"Take them now so they'll take most of the pain away."

Ellis was tempted to turn them away, in an attempt to impress Zoey and saying he'd experienced more pain from a Spitter but, then again, he didn't want to look a complete idiot in front of the woman he deeply adored. He just swallowed a couple of pills dry and put the bottle down beside him, watching his crush carefully remove the dressing around the bullet wound. She had small hands and they were gentle, cool as well. It was also the point where he realised he was topless from the latter going through his mind: the same coolness that had touched his chest earlier.

He wanted to casually flex a bit for her but he realised any distraction would maybe cost him a nasty burn bigger than necessary over the wound. So he just sat, enjoying her fingers brushing his skin as it was steadily revealed to her.

Eventually she had uncovered all but the hole in his joint. Having bundled the gauze into a wad, she kept pressure on it to stop the blood gushing forth and, naturally, he hissed in pain. She hesitated for a moment before shifting to let Louis take over holding the bung to his arm. A few trickles were leaking down his arm though but nothing could be done about it when the wad was sodden with his blood.

Through squinted eyes, Ellis watched Zoey stand up and walk to the nearest window, pulling her pistol from the holster on her hip. She then judged the distance between herself and the hillbilly briefly before she shuffled a little closer and took aim between the boards.

"Ready Louis?" She looked over her shoulder at the older man and when he nodded she unloaded the whole clip into the area outside. Ellis wasn't though and he screamed when the red hot barrel of the pistol was pressed against the gaping hole in his shoulder. He wanted to pull away the pain was so intense but the grip both Louis and Zoey had on him kept him still.

Hissing, burning, stinging; it was ten times worse than standing in Spitter goo and Ellis was grateful he didn't try to act tough because he knew, just _knew_ the conman wincing at the other end of the room would have bust a gut at his reaction. The pain pills were shit too he evaluated.

It felt like an eternity before the pistol was removed from his joint and even longer before the pills kicked in but, despite the delay, Ellis sat with his back resting against the rusted wall behind him. He was still shaking a little but he looked up and grinned at Nick nevertheless,

"How're ya feelin'?" He received a shrug and a quirked eyebrow as a response at first before the conman opened his mouth,

"Better now I've seen you in pain." Nick winced suddenly when Rochelle seemed to purposely jab another cut on his temple. He looked at her, frowning, "Sweetheart? Don't do that." Rochelle's eyebrows were raised and a little smirk was on her face making Nick sneer and look away.

"Well I can shoot _you_ in the arm if ya want me to." The glare was directed at him,

"Pass." Nick then smirked, "Besides, you can't shoot for shit."

"You didn't see me take on the horde ya called for." The dark-skinned woman cleared her throat but kept busy with cleaning Nick's cuts. "Oh, an' Ro helped too o'course." Rochelle nodded and smiled but never looked at him, dabbing at a new wound she found on the gambler's neck, tilting his head so she could access it more.

"Didn't do a very good job did you? I look like a scratching post." Rochelle prodded a large gash and Nick yelped, pivoting in the seat to look at her and grabbing her wrists, "STOP doing that!"

Ellis was grinning stupidly in amusement but then silence fell and they remembered Coach wasn't here to occupy said silence and sort them out. His face fell.

Nick released Rochelle's wrists and stared at the floor glumly, letting her look in the opposite direction in equal sadness.

The hick found the wooden floor interesting, running his fingers along the grain of it until he obtained a splinter, making him swear and stare almost dumbly at the tiny piece of wood jutting from the burnt pad of his finger. A brief moment passed before he raised an eyebrow and tugged it out, flicking it aside before staring at his hands.

All of his fingers had burnt tips actually from putting that loose wire back into place on the train. He yelped as well when the point of contact sparked and seared his skin – Nick and Rochelle were keeping a lookout and thus never heard him, only the hum of the machine as he brought it back to life.

Though something didn't make sense about that diesel and that was the keys were still in it, turned into the on position, but a wire was loose. Someone may have tried to escape that way too or just sabotaging the machinery. Ellis frowned; maybe the scientist who helped them was trying to escape, considering he knew all about the train but he probably got caught and lied through his teeth to avoid getting shot.

He could only guess on the matter.

A horrible gust of wind blew through the boarded window Zoey had fired through earlier and Ellis shivered, looking round for his missing top. He was left bewildered though when he saw nothing resembling his Bull Shifters shirt. He shivered again and crossed his arms over his bare chest, hugging himself but not without gritting his teeth when his shoulder twinged and felt the burn stretch slightly.

Really he should move to a warmer spot, however, it seemed the only place was currently being occupied by Nick now, as Rochelle had packed up what was left unused of the medical kit and perched herself in an unfolded, metal chair in the far corner of the room Louis had occupied before he left.

The said woman noticed his discomfort and spoke up, "I think Louis took your shirt," Ellis looked at her almost embarrassed he'd got caught rubbing his upper arms to generate warmth, "the hole the bullet made was big so I think he took it to fix it," She paused then furrowed her brow at him, "and clean it - you lost a lot of blood." Glancing at the doorway Ellis spotted a spattered, bloody trail leading up to where he had regained consciousness a foot from where he was now. Rochelle threw Nick a look but he was preoccupied with picking some dried muck off his shirt. "Even Suit was worried when he finally woke up hours before you." She was smirking at him however the conman didn't look up; either too interested in picking the dirt off or just plain ignoring her they didn't know.

"Who shot me?" His voice was curious, trying to mask how truly impressed he was with the shot: the group here had one fine marksman if they could hit arteries dead on.

"Greasy-pig." Was the curt reply from Nick, still not looking up from his suit having found another flaking dirt patch.

Ellis went quiet, racking his brain for the last member of the other trio: his angel Zoey, the tie wearing Louis and… who else was there? The guy in the vest but he couldn't for the life of him remember his name. "Vest?" He found himself saying, feeling a bit stupid at forgetting the 'awesome biker dude' from the bridge.

"Francis." Rochelle sighed out, staring at the doorway almost dreamily. Nick's head snapped up to look at her, his eyes slightly wide and his mouth a thin line. It was a very quick movement but Ellis caught it. However, it was too quick to judge the emotion he was portraying before he went back to his once white suit.

Ellis got distracted though before he could try and spend a while trying to figure out _why_ Nick looked at Rochelle like that, having seen someone walk into the room.

Zoey, with his shirt neatly folded in her arms. She crossed the room in a few strides and after a brief locking of eyes – _God he loved those eyes _– she offered his shirt out to him. He blinked at her, then at his shirt before sheepishly taking it. He was about to put it on when she crouched down, startling him and making the conman still obsessing over his suit let out a short bark of a laugh.

"I just want to check your shoulder before you put it back on." The hillbilly just nodded and shifted slightly, moving his shoulder as best as he could to let her see the burn she'd given him. Her hands were a little warmer than the other time she touched him and, despite she was being as gentle as she could, the burn made him hiss.

Her reaction was almost instant, retracting her hands to her person as she locked eyes with him apologetically; "Sorry!"

Ellis gave her a light half-smile and shook his head, shifting again to try and ease the pain, "Ain't you darlin'," He started, then immediately made a note to mentally kick himself for calling her that so soon in their meeting, "I jus' shouldn't be movin' it like I am." He saw her fingers flex out then back against her palms, her eyes locked onto his cauterised wound and it was clear she was thinking twice about touching him there again. "Really, it's fine." She still wasn't looking convinced and, on the verge of physically encouraging her, Ellis opened his mouth to speak again but she beat him to it, green eyes locking onto his right bicep.

"That's pretty cool." Her eyebrows were raised - he guessed she was impressed - and her left hand reached out to lightly trace the blue ink decorating his upper arm. He rotated his arm a little to show more of it to her and she moved to sit on her knees, shuffling forwards to get a seemingly closer look at his tattoo.

It started on his shoulder as a crescent moon on its back with four spikes crossing through it: three going vertically down his arm whilst the last one, on the very end, curved round and through the three before it ended in his inner elbow. A lone curly line was just under the first bend of the fourth spike and followed the contour of his elbow joint. Ellis was proud of it and the fact his crush was _admiring_ it made him grin widely.

"It ain't 'purdy cool'." He commented, "It's damn awesome!" His grin widened more so when he heard her giggle slightly at his remark and lock eyes with him.

"What does it mean?"

His grin turned to a light smirk and looked down his arm at the ink there, "Strings of a guitar." He said simply, trying his hardest not to go into a full out story and boring her, "I used to play bass in a band."

Nick's voice piped up then, "I'm impressed at that, Overalls," Ellis looked over Zoey's shoulder at the conman questioningly, "A hillbilly with the mental capacity to learn how to play an instrument. Quite a feat there." His smirk was smug and the mechanic glared at him.

"Well what instrument can you play then Suit?" Rochelle left her seat and walked over to the gambler – she'd spotted something hence her rather hasty movements.

Suit just shrugged nonchalantly and said something that sounded an awful lot like "Penis".

Without giving his brain chance to register what instrument sounded like that word, Ellis scoffed and stared at Nick with wide eyes, "How the hell can ya play the penis?" He hastily half-yelled in exasperation.

Nick looked outraged and affronted at the same time before his brow furrowed dangerously, "Jesus Christ Ellis! I said pianist! PEE-AN-IST!" He took a breath and went on, ignoring the laughter from both Rochelle and Zoey, "Or were you thinking about your cousins? Your 'buddy' Keith?" He then smirked devilishly, "Or… were you asking…" He then gestured to Zoey, which she missed as she had her eyes closed from laughing too much. Ellis looked at her and went a very bright crimson from embarrassment, very quickly averting his gaze from the overly smug face of the conman and hysterical brunette.

His hand went to his head instantly after noticing his shadow was missing something and his messy hair was all that greeted his palm. He looked at everyone, "Where's ma hat?"

Rochelle at that moment threw something at him and eagerly Ellis caught it, having realised it was his hat halfway through its journey to him. Wasting no time at all he dusted it off and shoved it back onto his cranium, giving the dark-skinned woman a bright smile, "Much obliged." She returned the smile,

"Louis took it off you after he kept bashing his head on the bill." She brought her hand up and circled a part of her forehead, "Next time he comes in, look here." She looked amused before going back to her chair.

Ellis just smirked and put his shirt on; carefully manoeuvring the hole his head went through around his hat.

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Chapters will slowly get longer. I'm a bit rusty after a few years of no decent writing.

Oh, for those intrigued by Gmod stuff, see my DeviantArt page, I've posted them all there and have a lot more to add to the growing collection ;]


	3. Chapter 3

So, how long have you been waiting for this chapter? Too long, I know. But considering I've made a few things up in this I got hesitant [also work did my wrist in icing eggs coming up to Easter] and only now am posting it just to get it out the way. Chapter 4 is being written too. And more sexytime one-shots, if you want them ;]

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Left 4 Dead characters, only the new infected I made up.**[Made four new infected up actually, the one in this chapter is somewhere in my DA gallery XD Got to draw the other three and update the first one]

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Trying not to sleep on his left shoulder was probably the hardest thing Ellis had ever done as he'd always slept on that side of his body. Usually waking up on his back or other shoulder but with the burn still stinging he had to gain some shuteye on his back. And it felt _weird_.

The ceiling was low and he tried counting the bolts holding the thing together as he'd given up with sheep some time ago. And that didn't work either...

Plus, someone nearby was snoring _really_ loudly.

Ellis sat up and pushed the blanket off him. Wincing briefly when he stretched the scald on his arm he gingerly stood up, intent on being quiet to not wake the other five sleeping. He then realised Francis was the one closest to him – the man who was snoring and the one responsible for shooting him.

Both Louis and Zoey had to really twist the biker's arm to get him to apologise after saying he hated such a thing. Ellis accepted it with a smile however but did no more as the man had homed in on Rochelle and became engrossed in a very animated conversation with her. Rochelle was laughing and giggling almost every few seconds and the conman who had begun to hobble round the room grumbled in disdain and left. Ellis had no idea what sparked it.

Nick hadn't returned either and the mechanic knew better than to see where he went as he just knew, after a while of pondering of course, that the taller man had gone to find a sink to wash his suit in. And he probably wanted to mourn the loss of Coach in private.

Stepping over the awkwardly positioned form of Louis, Ellis tiptoed out the doorway and turned left to walk along the corridor, avoiding the closed door of the bathroom.

Blue eyes were on the floor just watching where he was treading as he didn't particularly want to slip in a patch of rainwater leaking through the corroded roof. But the moment he was past that section riddled with puddles he let his mind wander and he sighed sadly.

_Coach_.

Ellis found himself closer to that man more than the other two of the group what with Coach being a fellow Georgian. Sure the burly man frowned at some of his antics but at a time similar to this when the mechanic couldn't get to sleep he'd home in on Coach, if he was on watch, and sit with him. They'd talk and Harold would help ease his mind – he was the only one who knew about the doubts Ellis kept hidden well.

Harold Jackson was his real name. Ellis had spotted it above the space he was to sign at the camp and smiled to himself. He then sat beside Coach the next morning for breakfast and greeted him with a "Mornin' Harold." Ellis had never heard the man laugh so much before saying he knew he should have just put Coach down. Ellis chortled with him.

Harold saw through his mask, saw through his goofy behaviour and irrepressible optimism. The elder of the group realised Ellis was trying his best to keep the group occupied so to say by talking all the time. Distracting them from the horrors of what they were actually doing to people.

Rochelle and Nick presumably believed him to be 'not right in the head' at his antics.

In fact, Ellis loved life. He really did. Just how he went about displaying it was more over the top than how he would usually do it. He didn't really make his mouth go on like that… to keep talking non-stop… all the time... to fill every silence that crept up.

It was a form of comfort for the mechanic, to keep his brain busy as he chopped and shot seriously sick people – not zombies; they were too smart to be zombies – so he kept talking. Even going as far as exaggerating sometimes at what his best buddy Keith did.

The football coach sat down with him one night when Ellis was on watch and told him straight out he knew what the youngest of the group was doing. Ellis tried to brush it off at first, saying it was like a giant shooting range.

Had it been Rochelle or Nick talking to him they would have bought it but this was Coach.

Ellis crumbled at that point when the burly man's gaze never faltered and Coach had patted his shoulder in a form of understanding.

He never told Coach what exactly happened to make him be like this but the older man most likely hazarded a guess: lost someone close to him, which was half true because he'd actually lost two people he loved dearly to the infection.

Ellis' sister, Caitlyn, was three years younger than him but she had contracted the virus and turned. It was unclear when she had gotten bitten though.

Their parents were elsewhere and Ellis still had no idea if they survived but he put himself in charge of looking after his siblings, barricading them in the office of his garage with the bar he used for putting tyres on wheel rims as a weapon. It was already bloody having been used to bash a couple infected out the way to get to the office in the first place.

He had two sisters: the already mentioned Caitlyn and little ten-year-old Anna. They had come round to see their big brother working on a van and just as he'd slammed the hood down an infected charged in – the start of the apocalypse.

Ellis hadn't known Caitlyn had become infected, heck he didn't even know she'd been bitten until she suddenly vomited blood. Little Anna screamed and it wasn't until the first alarm in the mall when Ellis realised the infected hated loud noises. Caitlyn had hissed and lunged at her younger sister, the same time Ellis reacted to try and protect her.

He had taken the full force of the onslaught in place of Anna, giving him the bruise under his eye, but the bloody nails of Caitlyn had already left their mark on the little girl's arms, which she had raised to protect herself with.

Trying to convince himself it was all a dream, Ellis held Caitlyn out at arm's length and desperately tried to talk to her, to reason with her to snap out of it. All Caitlyn wanted to do however was bite him as her jaws kept snapping at him, arms fighting his stronger grip. Unable to get to him though she wailed and writhed to get free as Ellis kept talking.

Something then clawed his knee but it wasn't strong enough to rip the fabric of his coveralls. He tore his gaze away from the glowing yellow orbs of his angered sister and looked down to see Anna swipe at him again but that later formed a bruise.

In shock, he pushed Caitlyn away and stumbled back from Anna, disbelief clouding his mind suddenly at his youngest sibling looking like this, wanting him dead.

This was not happening. It was all a dream, it had to be! Anna was tucked up in bed, cuddling her stuffed crocodile. It was actually Ellis' which he'd won years ago at Whispering Oaks but gave it to her because it kept him safe at night. Anna of course believed it and it was always with her, even with it falling apart she loved it.

She loved it because her big brother gave it to her to keep her safe. She'd also brought it with her that day too.

He was alerted back to his surroundings when he became aware that the shove he'd given Caitlyn had sent her backwards into the desk. However she'd stumbled a few feet before it and fell, skull cracking open on the corner and crumpling to the floor. The tiles steadily turned red from her blood oozing out and she never moved after that, didn't even twitch.

Mortified, Ellis ran to his sister and shook her, calling her name out. His mind forgot about Anna until she jumped on his back. Her hand came round his head from momentum and her index finger sliced the bridge of his nose open. The mechanic clutched the wound and that sudden rocking motion, accompanied with him trying to rush away forced Anna off his back.

She fell and hit the floor hard.

Ellis stumbled to the door, clutching the fresh wound on his face – it wasn't bleeding much but it stung like hell – and hurriedly went to moving the heavy objects he placed in front of the door, with one hand. Anna hissed as she got back onto her feet just as her brother shoved the cabinet out the way, using both hands now, and went to open the door.

Even though she was smaller than him, the cut he acquired was deep and he didn't want Anna jumping on him again in case she cut an artery open.

Adrenaline had him hastily rush out the room but not before Anna swiped at him again and his elbow stung as he slammed the door shut behind him. A loud bang suddenly echoed in his mind as his little sister whom he adored collided with it.

Everything went silent.

He talked because he wanted to forget about his failing to protect his sisters. He talked because he wanted to forget little Anna wailing as she jumped on him, faintly breathing he lied about the crocodile protecting her… He talked because he wanted to forget… that he killed them.

Anna had died when he slammed the door shut but it wasn't the collision that ended her, it was the bar he left by the door that ran her through. It had fallen forward at an angle having been knocked by the cabinet and pierced her heart when she hit the door. He knew he should have left it on the desk but he wanted it within reach should he have to open the door.

The heels of his hands found his eyes in an attempt to fight off the threat of tears and he stopped walking. Guilt biting at him like it did whenever he let his mind wander like this.

Coach understood why he was doing it and told him straight out that he shouldn't bottle things up, regardless of a legitimate reason. So Ellis talked to Coach, confided in him when he was having doubts and the man always lifted his spirits.

Always.

But now he was gone…

Anger fuelled him suddenly and he threw a fist out at the wall beside him, other hand balled tightly at stomach level. His eyes were screwed shut but as quickly as the surge of rage came it evaporated from his system. It wasn't like him to be angry, or full of grief but the only person whom he trusted his inner demons with was gone and was never coming back.

He had doubts the other two could take Harold's place like that, what with them mourning their leader's loss too. Would be selfish of him to suddenly walk over and burden them with his problems when they never asked for them like Coach did.

They had problems of their own too after all…

"Ellis, sweetie?" A hand touched his arm and Ellis started, turning round as well in one fluid motion to see Rochelle looking at him worriedly.

Both her and Nick cared for him as much as he cared for them but he didn't want to bog them down with an extra weight on their chests, replaying they had problems of their own through his mind.

He went to say he was fine but his voice box shut off and he let out a soft whimper instead, vision becoming blurry at seeing her look upset through the concern for him. She'd been crying over Coach and that's what pushed Ellis over the edge. He embraced her without warning but the dark-skinned woman reacted like she expected it from him.

When she felt his shoulders shake and hear soft sobs escape him, Rochelle just held him, letting him weep into her shoulder as she did the same.

Ellis had stayed up the whole night keeping watch despite promising Rochelle he'd get Louis up to take over.

He just couldn't sleep. Not with all the guilt and grief running through his veins; he had closed his eyes for a moment and saw Anna glaring back at him. He hadn't dared shut them again after that.

The infected lumbering past the door he kicked in helped him momentarily forget about his worries, trying to see how many limbs he could blow off before the common died. An infected worker had impressed him with losing his whole left arm, his right calf and left foot before he stopped moving.

So far nothing had bested that.

Hollow grinding suddenly came from nowhere and Ellis sat bolt upright in the metal folding chair, hand snapping to the AK-47 beside him.

He'd never heard anything like that before and part of him was curious to see what it was whilst the other wanted him to get the others up in case it was a Tank moving something.

The noise evaporated into nothing and Ellis reduced it to sleep deprivation. He slumped in the chair and stared at the ceiling, not really that surprised to see a very angry Rochelle looking back down at him.

He bit his bottom lip and slowly sat up again, rotating round so his arm was hanging over the back of the chair. "Mornin'-" Was all he managed to say sheepishly before the woman shushed him. He was expecting an earful off her but understood why she wanted quiet when the grinding noise came back.

Ellis turned his head to look out the door, whispering, "I've only just started hearin' it." He looked back at Rochelle, "I dunno what's causin' it." The sound stopped again and Rochelle locked eyes with him.

"Maybe I should wake the others, just to be safe." She too was probably suspicious of it being a Tank.

Ellis' mind then evaluated it not being the chunk of muscle as Tanks usually huffed and let out gruff noises similar to growls when stationary. Plus when it moved the ground shook and when it was chasing someone it was similar to an earthquake. So it had to be a Hunter as they were silent in general but what it was doing making that noise was beyond him.

Regardless, he nodded and Rochelle retreated to the room the other four were sleeping in.

Minutes later Francis walked out, followed by Louis and Zoey.

Zoey was pulling her red jacket on and Ellis felt himself blush, pretending to have an itch on his nose to hide it from the brunette as she was now tying her hair up. Lord was she beautiful with her hair down and a smile tugged at the hick's mouth but he supressed it.

Nick emerged with Rochelle behind him and Ellis could have sworn he saw dread on the conman's face briefly before his brow furrowed at spotting the hick watching him.

"I hate mornings." Francis stated as he looked around the room then down at Ellis, who was about to say 'good morning'. Louis and Zoey rolled their eyes but when Nick pushed between the two Zoey looked annoyed and Louis looked indifferent.

"What's up Overalls?" Suit started but any insult he was going to say was abruptly halted when the grinding sound came back to life again. Nick frowned and sneered, obviously in Mister Grumpy-Face mode.

Ellis glanced at the door before he stood up, handing the gambler the AK-47, "That, White-Suit." Nick glared at him, most likely at using the nickname before snatching the gun.

Ellis followed Rochelle and Louis to the nearby table where four pistols and two rifles lay, "I thought it was a Tank a' first." He picked up a rifle, grinning when it was his favourite kind – a hunting rifle, before turning round, rubbing his nape. "But no Tank makes that sorta noise."

"Maybe it's a car?" Louis pitched in, picking up the last rifle and checking the ammunition in the clip. "Maybe we can use it to escape?" His voice was so full of hope it made Ellis feel awful when he shook his head,

"Ain't no car man, sorry." Working around cars Ellis knew what noises they made and this hollow grinding was not a sound motors made. Keys in the ignition made an airy whrr-ing noise and this was not a car trying to start. They were the only people around who could still drive cars anyway so it was very unlikely someone was trying to start a car.

Louis seemed to deflate and Francis looked unconvinced. Zoey was pensive and the mechanic bit his tongue to stop himself from blurting out frowning didn't suit her. She stood staring out the door for a brief moment longer before grabbing a pistol.

"Let's go." She said without a second thought, heading to the only way in and out of the building. Ellis hastily took off after her, trying to ignore how nice a view her ass was by busying himself with tweaking the scope on his gun, staring at the floor through it.

Francis snatched the AK-47 off Nick, grinning triumphantly and earning a promised death glare and a sneer from the suited male.

Rochelle stopped his actions by offering him the last pistol and Nick took it begrudgingly muttering a curt "Thanks."

The rising sun made Ellis squint as he followed Zoey outside, the brim of his cap just a little too high to cast his eyes in shadow. He dipped his head a touch and blinked in relief when the bill did its job and relieved his eyes. Zoey turned to face him and his brain shut down.

_Holy… _The sunlight illuminated the right side of her face and Ellis found himself staring, mouth hanging open slightly.

He knew it was rude but he couldn't help it.

A heavy hand clapped his shoulder and he heard Nick breathe into his ear, "Task at hand kid, not her." Just through his voice Ellis knew the man was smirking. Trust Nick to notice…

Ellis blushed and shrugged the grinning conman off before pushing him away with the arm he had leant on. The mechanic then turned and walked a few feet to look round the side of the warehouse they'd emerged from, to hide his embarrassment mostly.

A low growl had every hair on his body stand on end and it forced him to scan the area, to search for the infected in a hoodie. Tons of large wooden boxes and crates lined the side of the building and his guess was that the Hunter was amongst them.

He was right.

The loud wail that erupted from the Hunter's mouth made Ellis start, stopping him from announcing where it was, and in the time it took him to recover from the shock it had pounced, clearing the boxes. But it missed him completely and there was a slam behind him.

"GET IT OFF ME!" Nick was the intended target.

Ellis whirled round and shot the Hunter in the back, just as Louis shot it in the head. It crumpled at an odd angle over the conman who had luckily sustained minor damage.

Instead of thanking them Nick got up and glared at the tanned man, "Stupid hick."

Ellis frowned back, "Shouldn't ya be thankin' me?" Nick just flipped him the bird and turned to go back inside the warehouse. Ellis exhaled through his nose, the frown still on his face as he watched the gambler vanish inside. "You're welcome, jackass…"

Nick was the only one who had managed to go through the doorway when the grinding sound returned, and it was louder than before. However it stopped again before the remaining survivors had a chance to look round.

Suddenly wary of being outside with something making that disgusting noise, Rochelle retreated indoors where there was only one way things could get in. Francis followed her closely behind.

The grinding came back again but had a light squelching noise accompanying it this time as it got closer and closer. Zoey and Louis tentatively went inside, thinking being in a building was best to stop ambushes and Ellis started to follow them, giving the area around him a quick glance over.

Suddenly something heavy landed on his back, bear hugging him from behind and he dropped his gun.

"What the hell?"

He went to move his arms but they were secured in place by his sides. Looking down his person he saw arms covered in boils and hands sporting only four fingers. The index fingers appeared to have merged with the thumbs making it three times longer than any normal finger. It was also that lone appendage keeping his arms locked down.

Two legs facing the wrong way swooped round his hips from behind and thick nails slammed into his stomach. He grunted from the wind being forced out of him before he turned his head, feeling pressure on his left shoulder blade as the infected leant on him.

What Ellis noticed first was that it had no nose; in fact all of the skin surrounding the chin, mouth and nasal passage had been stripped off. Its ears were missing too, only holes where the ears should be were revealed as the infected threw its head back.

It was clearly a new infected and, solely because it crept up on him, Ellis' eyebrows shot up in fear – not knowing what this mutant did - and yelled out, "CREEPER!"

Just as Zoey and Louis ran back out the Creeper let its mouth fall open and a piercing scream bellowed out.

Oh these infected were smart: Ellis couldn't cover his ears what with his arms anchored by his sides and all he could do was cringe, eyes screwed shut as the screaming quickly grew louder and louder. In fact it got so loud he ended up yelling with it as well but in pain.

Louis and Zoey were probably cringing as well from the noise as it took a few precious seconds before he heard the faint gunshot that blew the brains of the Creeper out.

He fell with it, ears ringing.

And then the horde came.

* * *

Is it possible to really hate a chapter you spent ages writing? Then again there's always the odd thing you're not proud of ;]

I forget what inspired me to make the Creeper but I thought another special that summoned a horde would be fun. Also, Boomers and Smokers [upon death] hinder sight so why not have one that temporarily made survivors 'deaf'? I thought it was a good idea _

Wait til you see the other three I made up ;]


	4. Chapter 4

Ugh, apologies for the wait but I've been with my other half for a week, lost my job, got a new job and been generally busy until now to finish this off. And I've added crap loads to the plan so my brain's been on cooldown. Gmodding helped me get back into writing this as well.

**Disclaimer: I do not own L4D or L4D2. I only own the story idea, the Creeper, and the idea of Ellis' two sisters Anna and Caitlyn [which I think I forgot to mention in the last chapter, and I will be drawing]**

If you have any ideas for one-shots, any rating, say so in your review and I'll see what I can do about it. Another thing, Nearly A Year Ago Today may be turned into a story. The other one-shot ideas I have for other positions can branch from that one story.

* * *

Ten minutes had passed since the horde that came from seemingly nowhere had been dealt with. Zoey had grabbed Ellis by the arm and dragged him inside before rushing back out with the others to deal with wave after wave of infected people. His face had found his hands, cupping his ears and hadn't budged from that position.

He'd obtained a throbbing headache from the Creeper's wail and his ears were still ringing. He couldn't hear anything very well and he seriously hoped it would go in at most a couple more hours. No. He _needed_ it to go in a couple more hours.

A hand brushed his burnt shoulder and he winced. His head rose and mouth fell open but he couldn't hear what he said in reply to the action. He probably swore as Zoey's eyebrows were raised at him in slight amusement.

_Oh, fuck. _She was touching him.

He quickly looked away and bit his tongue, completely unable to stop the blush from creeping up his neck and into his face. And he turned redder when her small hand cupped his chin but she held his face forward, inspecting his left ear first then walking round his sat person to check his right.

In front of him lay the Creeper, spread-eagled on its back. He looked it over and his stomach desperately wanted to empty when he saw that it was half on its back and half on its front. Its waist had spun a complete 180 degrees, the spinal column following that motion but the vertebrae looked loose.

Nick poked it and Ellis watched him cringe before saying something. He wished he could hear it as it sounded important but he then reduced it to a low insult as the conman had looked directly at him, pointing. Ellis just frowned back at him when the man actually began laughing from something Francis had said.

Zoey's grip tightened just a touch on his chin but he ignored it and found himself looking at the backwards legs of the Creeper. After a split second he unconsciously moved his hand to touch the spot on his stomach where it had skewered him. He faintly heard himself yelp in pain and look down at where it stung. Hastily straightening his spine he rolled his shirt up.

Short but deep gouges had been left in his skin, all around his bellybutton. His lower shirt was drenched in blood too but from how he was stooped over himself it was hidden from view of the others.

Blinking, he almost jumped when Rochelle had somewhat teleported in front of him, dropping to her knees as Zoey followed suit. A health kit was thrown over and the older woman tore into it, fishing out disinfectant, a cotton wad and a small roll of gauze.

He watched Rochelle unscrew the cap of the bottle, smother the neck with the cotton and upturn it with a swift flick of her wrist, tipping some of the contents into the wad. Then Zoey reached over and gingerly took the cotton off her.

Exchanging a few short words with the pink shirted woman, she glanced at Nick who had just become aware of a deep laceration in his upper arm, sleeve torn. Rochelle nodded and Ellis watched her stand up before smiling at Zoey, making a small comment then heading over to Suit.

Nick didn't protest when Rochelle started talking to him and sat him on a small box whilst searching for another medkit.

His attention was brought back to Zoey knelt before him, holding his shirt up and gently dabbing the gouges in his abdomen. It stung really badly and he wasn't sure if he was making any noises since he was still unable hear very well, only the ringing in his ears.

When Zoey opened her mouth to speak it was muffled, the annoying sound in his ears slowly fading, but Ellis could only make out one word – 'deep'.

His stomach convulsed when she dabbed at his wounds again and she shook her head, standing up before calling Louis over and gesturing to his abdomen.

Ellis almost missed catching the pills thrown at him, nearly smacking him in the face, and before he did anything else, he downed a couple dry. Then immediately wondered why the first time he was offered them from the same man he contemplated turning them down to impress the girl in front of him. He wasn't in high school anymore; it was an apocalypse.

Louis stooped down in front of the mechanic and squinted, hands touching the area around one of the wounds, thumbs on either side of it. Ellis looked down and let out a supressed moan of pain when the slightly older man suddenly applied pressure and pulled the wound open.

Blood poured out and Ellis seriously hoped they didn't need cauterising. The one on his shoulder was bad enough; he'd probably pass out if it was needed on his stomach.

The ringing suddenly stopped and Ellis picked up the last few words Louis spoke,

"-rot if left in him."

Zoey nodded and went digging through the health pack for something. Ellis frowned in confusion.

"What will rot?"

Louis looked up at him, taken by surprise at Ellis talking, but then sighed a little in relief, "You can hear now, that's great." He stood up suddenly and put a hand on the southerner's unmarked shoulder, "I need you to lie do-"

"Found some." Zoey interrupted, producing a pair of small tweezers from the red pack and held them aloft for the man to take, but all Louis did was rub his nape.

"Is there a way to sterilise it? I don't want Ellis to have a nasty internal infection."

"Why, what's wrong with me?" Worry was creeping through in his tone of voice and Louis gave his shoulder a squeeze, smiling at him,

"Nothing too serious, only some cloth came off when the Creeper stabbed you." The smile faded. "It's in the wound and if we don't get it out it'll rot."

Instead of panicking like the dark-skinned man probably thought he'd do, Ellis looked down at his stomach and curved his spine so he could get a better view of the wounds. "Can't ya just pull it out with some gauze or those tweezers?" He returned his gaze to Louis, "The stuff in there are sterile anyway; otherwise we wouldn't be using them to patch open wounds up."

Louis looked thoughtful, a frown on his face as his brain worked. Whilst waiting for an answer, Ellis glanced at Zoey to see if she had anything to say and caught her just whipping her eyes away to the man beside him.

"We'll need to find some antibiotics just in case then. Who knows what shit has been on your shirt?"

Ellis just nodded and reclined onto his elbows, placing the least bloodied portion of his shirt into his mouth. The bill of his cap obscured the top half of both Louis and Zoey from how his head was positioned, watching their bottom halves move around him for a moment.

Zoey's hands touched the area around the wound the cloth scrap was hiding in and he heard Louis count slowly. After three, he saw the tweezers close in on his stomach and felt Zoey split the cut open. Childishly, Ellis expected his nose to flash red when the instrument grazed his skin.

The pills had kicked in but it stung a bit and he hissed, nose wrinkling in discomfort. He felt shifting inside the wound and then something getting pulled out – a small piece of his shirt sodden with blood. Louis placed it in a square piece of gauze and Zoey moved onto the next one, solely to check the others for any more scraps of cloth.

In total, three of the ten cuts had bits of his shirt inside them and it was Zoey who was cleaning the blood off his abdomen, ready for stitches, which she was going to do as Louis had left to wash his bloodied hands.

Mouth still full of his shirt, Ellis let out a muffled noise of pain when the needle pierced his skin on the first disinfected cut.

"Sorry." Came a split second later from the brunette.

After a few more 'ow's and 'sorry's the pain dulled and Ellis found himself watching Zoey's hands as they moved, almost transfixed at how smoothly they worked stitching his cuts back up. Her left hand would flatten on his skin as the right pushed the needle through one side of the laceration, then a few deft movements of her fingers brought enough thread through to pierce the other side and bring them together. Every stitch she did the same thing and Ellis felt like he could watch her hands all day.

She knew what she was doing, probably done this loads of times too and the mechanic smirked a little to himself – his angel was amazing.

Minutes later Louis came back just as Zoey had finished sewing up the second to last cut and began on the final gouge. The dark-skinned man homed in on them and stood beside the mechanic, watching the college student tie the very last of the thread off before helping Ellis sit up, shirt falling from his mouth.

"Thanks, man."

Louis just smiled back, patting his good shoulder, "No problem."

Zoey had walked away, packing what wasn't used back into the medkit and Ellis' attention was brought back to the manager when a small square packet rattled in front of his face, "I found these too by the sink." Taking the box Ellis tilted it so he could make it catch the light and read the faded writing. 'Antibiotics. One-a-day'.

Ellis stood up shakily but when he felt the stitches tighten on his belly he cringed; Zoey did know what she was doing – ensuring the cut was properly sealed up - so she definitely knew how to sew things tightly. He glanced at the brunette now talking to Francis, probably about the Creeper with where they were looking, before slowly making his way to the bathroom.

No way was he taking antibiotics dry.

He was in dire pain by the time he returned and was forced to hunch his back to alleviate the strain on the stitches. No one looked up upon his reappearance, not that he minded of course, considering they were talking about the Creeper. Sure, knowing about the newest infected was important but Ellis soon found something much more important come to light – where the hell were they?

He found a nearby box to lean back on and pulled his shirt up a bit to inspect the stitches. A little bit of blood was oozing through, but then again he didn't know if it was coming from the stitches or from the cuts so he ruled it down to both. The hem of his shirt found the top of his overalls and he slouched over the box, anything to lighten the pain.

Nick beat him to talking but it was also a good question that plagued both Ellis and Rochelle's minds.

"Tell me sweet cheeks," The addressing could have been better though. Zoey stopped talking and the glare she gave the conman actually made Ellis' blood run cold but she didn't say anything, so Nick continued, "does the term 'carriers' mean anything to you?" The glare dropped and Zoey's face was unreadable moments before she looked away.

Nick smirked triumphantly and briefly thanked Rochelle for sorting the gash in his arm out. He turned back to Zoey and gestured to the woman who had cleaned him up and Ellis, "We're carriers."

"So are we." Zoey retorted, hastily looking at him, brow furrowed.

"Fine, we're all carriers." Nick wasn't done though, his eyes reflected just that, "One last thing though," Zoey's expression didn't change at all, like she was daring him to carry on, "why didn't you warn us the goddamn military would try and shoot us for being carriers? Or even better, warn us in general we'd be tested on!"

Zoey turned her whole body to face him, the frown now an angry one and her tone was dangerous, "Are you trying to put the blame on us for being back out here?"

Nick looked back just as coldly, "Just saying it as I see it sweet cheeks."

Wanting to prevent a fight, Louis walked over and stood between the brunette and new eldest member of the group. Nick's eyes locked onto him and Louis sighed, "We…" He trailed off and paused, looking back at Zoey but then picked up again, eyes moving back to lock onto Nick's, "we thought you were immune at the time-"

"Well you were half ri-" Nick interruption was cut off by Rochelle slapping a hand over his mouth and saying something in a low voice only the two of them could hear.

Ellis knew what Nick was doing. The gambler was stressed and he needed to vent his spleen on someone and part of Ellis was glad it wasn't himself getting it for a change but the other part wished it was, to save Zoey from getting stressed, angry or upset. From where he was standing though, his crush seemed emotionless.

_Change the subject._

Ellis rubbed his nape as best as he could, mostly craning his head down to do the action, because his elbows were resting on the box he was leaning on and opened his mouth, "Where are we?" He straightened his back to stand up and hissed, the stitches forcing his back to hunch over again. "'Cause I ain't seen any signs coming into here." Then again he was weighed down at the time with an unconscious Nick, more focused on getting him to safety than where they were. Civilisation was civilisation during an apocalypse after all.

No one answered at first and just waiting for anyone to speak made the pain dull in Ellis' abdomen. Misled, his back straightened and the stitches dug in. _Shit…_

"Outskirts of Jacksonville." Louis paused and glanced at Zoey and Francis, "North Jacksonville, I think…" Francis just shrugged and Zoey nodded slowly. "We walked through the whole city and this was the only building standing."

"Any plans to move from here?" Ellis' voice was rushed but pained and his hand absent-mindedly drifted to the spot on his stomach.

Louis shook his head, "None so far. We're just drifting right now; go when we need to leave." His eyes went to the door and his maw tensed, "Probably will move on at some point. Usually when a Tank appears, but that only happens when we don't keep the number of infected down around us. And we have just taken out a horde, bought us some extra time I think."

It didn't take Ellis long to realise the term 'drifters' now applied to Nick, Rochelle and himself.

Carriers were to be shot, and what was a carrier to do when their own life was on the line and no one, aside from other carriers for additional protection, wanted them? They were drifters now. Drifters until they found a safe haven, if that ever existed, or until they starved to death, considering food was hard to come by earlier and God knew what it was like now… or they were killed by the infected.

What delightful ways to go…

Nick's voice started up again, "Were you drifting when you saw us at the bridge?" Even Ellis thought it was a reasonable question but for some unknown reason, that query struck a nerve inside Zoey. Luckily Louis reacted quickly enough to stop her from producing a pistol and pointing it at the conman.

"Easy Zo." The bald man said delicately, gently easing her arm back to her side. Zoey complied and her breathing was heavy. Nick meanwhile looked as calm as always, like he'd expected her to react like that.

Ellis looked away just then, the stitches in his stomach annoying him once more as he rolled his shirt up to check them again. There was more blood around the wounds now and he ruled it down to standing upright suddenly. He needed to be more careful with his motions or else he'd tear them right open again, maybe double their size and he didn't particularly want a massive jagged gash on his stomach.

Louis' voice sounded quiet, "We had a place to go to when we met you."

Blue eyes looked up and instantly spotted Francis embracing Zoey but he knew it was for comfort as her face was shoved into his leather vest. Or he led himself to believe anyway, something was eating at the poor girl.

No other person spoke for a little while and that was when Louis continued,

"Florida Keys was our destination. We had the boat ready, supplies sorted but we had to wait on the bridge."

The mechanic vaguely remembered seeing a sailboat just under the raised bridge; it had caught Coach's attention first and gave the closest person – which was himself - a nudge. And then he remembered the old man slouched by the generator, a long thick trail of blood leading from the door to where he sat, rifle in his lifeless hands.

Had that man been with them?

"Looking for a boat I found…" The dark-skinned man paused for a second, mostly because the biker was looking at him, still holding Zoey. "I mean… fell into one filled with Witches." Zoey was tense and it seemed only Francis and Ellis noticed, Francis because he was holding her and Ellis, because he was watching her. He was worried about her, really worried.

Maybe she needed to talk to someone, like he did.

"My leg was in a bad state so we just waited on the bridge for my strength to get back, helped you out and set sail shortly after."

No mention of the man they found. He probably wasn't with them but the more Ellis thought about it, the more he got confused. The body was fresh and he distinctly remembered at the bridge one of them mentioning a Bill.

Was that man Bill? The same man he took the rifle off, effectively stealing it from a corpse. He thought nothing of it at the time but now he just felt guilty and his face was showing it.

"Why are you back here then?" Rochelle's turn to speak and it brought Ellis out of his train of thought, looking at her then the other three survivors.

Louis and Francis exchanged nervous glances when Zoey wrenched herself from her comforter, expecting and readying themselves for another reach for a pistol. But she simply left the room, eyes trained on the floor.

Ellis was torn between going after her and just leaving her alone. She was upset he could see that clearly but had no idea what about and he was afraid if he pressed on she'd threaten him with the pistol or just plain shoot him. At the same time, it could be the perfect opportunity to get her to talk to someone, make her smile Louis did say they had extra time anyway. Time put to good use, but would she talk to him having only known him for a day?

Probably not but he'd be damned if he didn't try. He wanted to thank her for helping stitch him up anyway, albeit too tightly for his own liking.

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Hope you enjoy this anywho. I've got the previous three chapters to update as well but I'm working the next two days, thought I'd get the new chapter out the way first however.


	5. Chapter 5

Okay, so I was on holiday for a week and then I had work for most of the past few weeks leaving me with hardly any time to do stuff. I've gone through this a few times and I'm eh with it. Saw one of the films that inspired the series of Left 4 Dead though and it's given me a couple of new ideas to put into this :D

**Disclaimer: Don't own L4D, only the plot and the made up infected.**

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Because he hadn't really paid attention as to where Zoey went it took Ellis a little while to find her. And because of his movements, one of the stitches in his stomach had rubbed him a bit and it was paining him to walk.

He'd checked the places he knew of; the bathroom, the area the others had slept in and a small room presumably for storage. He was on the verge of giving up when he found a metal staircase tucked behind a clever corner.

Climbing that didn't help the stitches either.

Where he found her though was in a dusty room two doors down from the stairs - the only door that was slightly open with sunlight from outside bleeding into the corridor. His work boots were the first part of him to enter the light and he just stood there, staring at the wood, his mind trying to figure out what the hell to say without offending her.

After what felt like hours he was coming up with nothing and he cursed himself quietly. In the end he just screwed with thinking and placed the tip of his index finger against the wood, hoping for the best.

The door creaked open and when it had opened far enough, Zoey looked at him, body silhouetted against the mostly blackened window she was leaning against. Some of the glass panels had shattered, allowing light through.

Ellis didn't move from his spot though, afraid she'd do something if he got too close too soon and swallowed the lump in his throat. "Y'alright?" His voice was croaky and he just saw Zoey nod, looking back out the window.

Ellis shuffled slightly and rested his good shoulder against the doorframe, looking at nothing in particular as his mind just wandered. Brewing up questions he wanted answers for, not just for himself, but for his other two companions as well: why they were here when he clearly saw a boat; what their next destination would be; where they would possibly go and who Bill was.

He turned and put his back against the wooden frame, looking up at the opposite corner to motivate himself to ask the first question when he spotted a few nails hanging. And he suddenly wondered why they were there.

He stood upright, as best as he could just focused on the nails.

A closer inspection revealed some had sheared completely and littered the floor with nail heads.

It didn't take him long to realise something wasn't right…

"You _can_ come in." Ellis started at her voice, almost forgetting Zoey was at the other end of the room and he looked at her. She was staring back, facing him but he couldn't see her expression what with her face being cast in darkness.

He looked back at the doorframe and realised there were very deep claw marks engraved in the dirty wood.

"Uh…" He rubbed his nape nervously, "Was… was the door… already open when you came up here?"

Zoey walked up to him, and it looked rather spooky seeing her darkened figure move. "Yeah. Why?" Her voice was laced with confusion but she followed his action and crouched down with him. He moved slower but she didn't question why.

"Something was in here." Ellis said quietly, suddenly aware something that could easily kill them was on the loose, his fingers touching just under the lowest claw mark as if to prove his statement. "An' it's bust its way out." He reached over and lightly tapped the door. The whole thing shook uneasily. Claw marks were on the outer edge of the door too, like something had managed to curl its fingers around and wrench it open. The catch had broken clean off too and was beside Zoey's left foot.

Zoey moved closer to him, reduced to whispering, "I didn't see anything when I came in here." Her hand reached out and the skin of her little finger brushed the tip of his index. His hand snapped away a little too quickly but the woman didn't seem to notice.

"Shit." Was all Ellis could say; partly because something dangerous was around, and partly because her little finger sent tingles up his arm. He stood up and looked down the depths of the corridor where it was nothing but darkness. Zoey stood up as well and they exchanged glances. "Reckon we should g-"

What cut him off made the hairs on their napes stand right on end and sent a horrifying chill down their spines. Ellis tensed up looking terrified, and Zoey's eyes were the only part of her showing how frightened she was.

A sobbing Witch was just down the hall. And she was mobile.

Ellis was frozen to the spot, eyes wide in fear as the darkness concealed the anorexic infected. He could hear her shuffling but had no fucking idea where the bitch actually was. His stomach was a tight knot and he was saying 'shit' over and over again quietly.

They only had a pistol, which Zoey had in her holster still, so taking her on was a suicidal idea. And he decided he would be the one to shoot the Witch in the face if she got ugly with them, no way was he letting Zoey get hurt.

There was tugging on his arm but he didn't budge, too fixated on where the Witch was. He knew he should move but like a deer caught in headlamps he just couldn't. Fear kept him motionless.

Warning growls now and he saw the tip of a sharp finger protrude from the abyss. The rest of her digits followed suit as the infected woman took her hands from her face. There was a glint from her left hand but he thought nothing of it, only the fact they were probably going to get ripped to shreds.

How the hell did she know it was daytime anyway back there? From what he could see, there was no window or open door for light to leak-

His shirt was suddenly grabbed and without warning, hauled into the room. However, because his legs had seized up, he pretty much fell in and landed right on top of Zoey. Dust was thrown up from impact like a shockwave to accompany the loud bang they made and the Witch's growls became more angered.

Ellis bit down on his tongue and screwed his eyes shut, not because he was scared but because Zoey's knees had caught him; his groin square on and his stomach. He'd effectively bounced off her from the pain and instinctively sat up with his hands between his legs, trying his hardest not to make any additional noise.

Zoey had scrabbled onto her feet and hid behind the open door, believing Ellis was following her.

He wasn't, as falling had also split at least one of his stomach wounds open a little and his groin stung - Zoey had _really_ bony knees.

The Witch was four feet from the door now, still growling and Zoey held her breath, eyes tightly shut. She could chance grabbing Ellis and drag him behind the door but she had no clue how fast this Witch was walking, and every Witch walked at varying speeds. Her state of anxiety and indecisiveness reduced her to wait for the scream to explode from that tiny frame and tear the southerner limb from limb. Her hand was on the pistol, ready and waiting to shoot her brains out.

Two feet from the door and the growling was intensifying.

One foot from the door she was borderline cracking.

And then she calmed down, shuffling past the door like nothing had happened.

Confusion clouded Zoey's mind at first, eyes snapping open, but then sudden relief overtook the brunette and she just exhaled slowly, sliding down the wall. Her heart felt like it was in her throat, thundering away so she closed her eyes and willed it to calm down.

Ellis was okay… wasn't he? She went to get up and look round the door when she heard light footsteps. She immediately knew it was him and wanted to call him a bastard for pulling a stunt like that.

The heavy boots got closer then stopped just short of her. "Shit that was scary." Her eyes opened but Ellis wasn't looking at her, still wary of the Witch now going downstairs. It was unknown as to how far she'd get before she'd double back and scare them shitless again, if she didn't trigger the other four on ground level first that is.

Zoey _really_ wanted to hurt him for worrying her like that… or hug him because she was so relieved he was alive. She couldn't decide between the two, staring intently at him, so she stood up and he locked eyes with her, "Don't do that again."

His reply was a soft smirk, "Can't really promise you that," Zoey's expression faltered slightly, "but I'll try anyway." _For you._ He wanted to finish with but, apart from the sobbing from the floor below, silence surrounded them.

Silence until they heard the faint buzzing of flies creep upon them.

Ellis turned around and how he didn't spot the outline of a decomposing corpse by the wall earlier he didn't know. The broken windows let enough air through to mostly neutralise the scent of decay and blood.

Listening out to judge where the Witch was now, the mechanic felt Zoey brush past him and walk very slowly to the body. He decided to stay by the door, moving to look down at what he could see of the top step, being the ears and eyes of the pair.

The blood around the man had dried and became sticky, making it a little difficult to walk without pausing to wriggle her foot free from the grasp of old blood. Her converse were caked in it by the time she was close enough to stoop down and inspect the poor man.

The smell was that foul Zoey was forced to look away and swallow the bile rising in her throat, closing her eyes to focus on keeping her stomach calm.

Ellis was watching her and when he heard no more of the Witch he opened his mouth to speak but it was that point Zoey nearly lost the contents of her stomach and his lips jammed shut, watching her wretch and deciding that so long as he didn't spark a conversation she'd be fine.

Her stomach thought otherwise as she stood up suddenly and ran into the nearest dark corner. Milliseconds later he heard her vomit and the splattering it made nearly had him puking.

Was the corpse really that bad? Or did the shock of the Witch finally catch up with her?

Either way, he'd ensure she'd eat enough to make up for what she'd lost, even if it meant giving her his food.

Glancing down the corridor one final time he slowly limped over to the rotting body but the stench kept him three feet from where torn ankle ligaments were on show. He suspected it was a common that had been trapped up here and had fallen prey to the Witch, but looking at what he could see of the man's face he realised it wasn't an infected.

It was a survivor but he'd been here for some time considering how much of him had rotted away. Ellis pulled the neck of his shirt up over his nose, despite it smelling of his own sweat and blood, and edged closer to the carcass.

He was used to seeing gore from shredding so many infected but he'd never had a chance, or the stomach, to actually stop and look at what body parts he'd torn, shot and lopped off. His throat tightened and his oesophagus quivered uneasily.

The man's chest had been torn right open and what Ellis believed to have once been red muscle and tissue inside the poor guy was now a thick gloopy brown. Maggots were thriving in the cavity and a few dead insects protruded from the rotting flesh. Flies buzzing round the feast.

Zoey groaned softly from the corner and he looked in her general direction, "You okay sweetheart?" His voice was a touch muffled with his shirt covering his mouth and seconds later he forced himself to swallow the bile that had suddenly pooled around his tongue.

It was probably the same case with the girl; blow an infected up and move on without fluttering an eyelash.

When he heard her make a small noise of confirmation he looked down at what his foot had caught – the bony hand of the deceased. And then a small glint through the peeling, sticky flesh caught his eye. It took him only a second to figure out what had happened in this room.

Zoey had walked to his side, white tank top covering her own nose and mouth when she too spotted the metal band around the man's left ring finger.

Only the buzzing of flies was the sound in the room for a few minutes and Ellis was fighting the urge to wince when his stomach wound stung, as if to remind him it was there.

"Poor guy," Ellis looked at Zoey, who was still a bit pale from throwing up moments earlier, and just nodded in agreement, watching the tank top undulate as she carried on talking, breathing through it, "He probably realised too late that she didn't recognise him anymore." Her eyes met Ellis' and his breath hitched, "I've seen it happen; someone becoming infected. They were going insane..." She trailed off and looked back down at the man, her eyes softening, "Imagine what it felt like, just watching… a loved one go through that."

Ellis didn't know why but he heard… misery in her voice and he reached out to touch her shoulder. She reacted hastily though and pushed his hand away, "I'm fine." He wasn't convinced however, and just stared at her profile.

She _needed_ to talk to someone, anyone, before she blew the brains out of one of them.

So he bit the bullet, "If…" He swallowed when she looked at him, her brow furrowed, "if ya need to… talk… to anyone, ol' Ellis is here-"

She stood up abruptly, glaring down at him, "I said I'm fine, Ellis!"

He did start at her hasty movement but only blinked at her words, standing up also he frowned at her, "Well y'ain't actin' fi-"

"_Why_ did you follow me up here?"

He had been expecting a question like that but how suddenly she spat it out, the way she said it, the anger in her voice, her tense form, it made Ellis swallow heavily and rub his nape, averting her gaze entirely. Zoey wanted to vent and unfortunately he was the closest person, also the person who hit that specific nerve. The very same nerve Nick had bitten savagely earlier on.

Her state of mind probably made her believe Colonel Sanders had sent him to give her more grief, not Ellis acted on his own volition and genuinely cared for her, even after just one day of being in the group.

Meekly he looked at her but the accusing look she gave him had his whole head turn away. _Just be honest…_"I… I jus' wanted to…" He trailed off; he couldn't. He was too ashamed and tongue-tied to explain his intentions were to apologise for Nick's behaviour and thank her for patching him up. He swallowed heavily, reduced to shrugging as he whispered, "Forget it…"

She was quiet but he didn't look at her again, instead, rotating his head to look at the corpse beside them. He was embarrassed, a little angry and hurt from her throwing his offer back into his face but now that he thought about it, it was pretty damn selfish of him to do that. Or was it a good thing to offer her an ear and hope for the same in return?

Goddamn he couldn't think being both hungry and tired. His stomach then rumbled and he winced, feeling blood ooze down his front from the only wound brave enough to reopen fully. Zoey didn't miss the fresh blood staining his shirt and she lifted it up before he had chance to protest.

"When we get down I'll sew it back up." His hand grasped her wrist and moved her away from him much to her confusion.

"I'll do it. Don't get ta patch maself up much. Normally Nick or Ro help me out 'fore I can blink." He forced a smile and finally locked eyes with her. It was a white lie but she bought it after a very long pause of searching his eyes. Not like he'd say he didn't want her touching him again for a bit after snapping at him. "There a mirror in the bathroom?" When Zoey nodded he turned round, "I can wash my shirt at the same time."

"You sure-"

"Positive." The body stunk and he limped away from it to the door. Zoey followed him but then Ellis froze.

The Witch was back, face in her hands and she was just putting her foot on the top step when Zoey bumped into him. The bitch growled and her hands came from her face again, eyes turning orange in warning as she shuffled towards them.

Gulping loudly, Ellis reversed slowly; forcing Zoey back into the room. But he stumbled suddenly and the growling woman's eyes flashed red.

Ten six-inch long fingers splayed out as her lungs let loose the shriek of promised demise, thin legs propelling her forwards to the one who had ignored her warning.

Zoey had slammed the door shut the second that blood-chilling scream exploded from the thin frame of a woman and pressed her whole body against it, looking at Ellis on the floor from his fall.

It was flimsy and it was a door but it was better than just air between them and her. Ellis staggered onto his feet, ignoring the pain in his gut and hurriedly helped keep the door in place with his own body.

The Witch bumped into the wood before instantly beginning to tear at it, nails scraping and weakening it more and more until her whole right hand broke through. She reached in and swiped wildly, long fingers just brushing Ellis' knee and Zoey's thigh forcing them to contort their bodies to avoid her sharp digits but keeping the door shut at the same time.

Zoey produced her pistol and began shooting at the hand, both of them panicking with that being their only weapon. More of the door fell away with the abuse the Witch's left hand was giving it and it was then both of them thought they were possibly going to die, and all because of Ellis sliding on the metal catch, which was now on the other side of the door.

Then they heard gunshots from outside the room and the pained squeals of the woman wanting them dead.

The door was buckling in and the middle portion of it resembled cheese by the time the Witch fell to her death, wailing loudly.

Ellis was paler in comparison to Zoey, much, much paler and he slid down the door, almost hyperventilating. Blood was gushing out of his stomach now from his increased heart rate and Zoey knelt beside him, rolling his shirt up.

"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere's Francis!" The biker had positioned his face to look through the largest hole in the door but saw nothing until Zoey stood up and looked back at him. He jumped in surprise.

"Very funny." She tilted her head to try and see the others but all she saw was splintered wood framing Francis' face, "Have any of you got a healthkit? Ellis is bleeding badly."

Rochelle instantly pushed Francis out the way and concern was written all over her face as she peered through at Zoey, "Did the Witch get him?"

"Naw, stomach's just split open again." Ellis raised his hand to the hole in the door to indicate he was still with them and a loud echoing creak followed his voice.

Everyone froze.

"What-?" Nick was cut off as the door jolted backwards suddenly, hinges barely catching it and giving both Rochelle and Francis enough time to move out the way before the whole thing fell out into the corridor. Ellis fell with it and in his attempt to catch himself, put his left arm out. His burn collided with the door and it split.

Needless to say, Nick was impressed at how loudly the southerner screamed out "Fuckin' shit!"

Nick had dragged him out the room by his armpits and Francis helped carry him down the stairs by holding his legs despite claims of hating manual labour.

Rochelle was worried and the second he was set down, she was by his side almost instantly, tearing into a medkit to retrieve the thread and other necessities to clean and patch him up.

"Ain't my luck is it?" Ellis breathed after his shirt was practically forced off him by Nick, his hat falling to the floor at how hastily it was removed as well. His diaphragm hurt as the open wound was the one closest to it. The strain was intense.

"It'll pick up sweetie." Rochelle smiled at him, rubbing disinfectant around the gash. Ellis went quiet after that save for the slight hisses of pain when the woman began stitching him up.

He hoped his luck would improve; no way did he want to become a pincushion and resemble a ragdoll that had been stitched together. He chewed his bottom lip; he _could_ say something about Keith and needles…

Nick walked in with a bowl of something or other and he was chewing.

Food.

Ellis' stomach grumbled desperately and Nick appeared to have heard it as he had crossed the room and offered him the bowl. With his good arm, Ellis reached in and picked a handful of dry Cheerios out, smiling in appreciation at the gambler. Nick sat beside him and continued eating, watching Rochelle tie the stitching off.

"Zoey really tied these shut didn't she?" A slender finger touched the spot under a tightly bound wound and Ellis visibly flinched, almost choking on the cereal he'd stuffed into his mouth and his hand automatically came down to swat the smaller one away.

He needed a drink but he managed to swallow, "My fault." He went to grab more from the bowl but Nick pulled it out of his reach and Ellis frowned, palm open and gesturing to the bowl, "I'm hungry."

"Get your own – HEY!" Rochelle had managed to snag a healthy handful and giggled at Nick's glare, popping a few into her mouth.

"Thank you Nicolas."

Nick grumbled but the very corner of his mouth had curled up a touch, "You're not welcome."

Ellis had decided to check his shoulder and found it to have stopped bleeding. It was slightly shiny where it had split open and was flaking too. And despite he was so very tempted to pick at it he tore his gaze away and tried to get the bowl again. Nick's arm came up and blocked him.

"C'mon, man…"

"Get your own." Rochelle had managed to steal another handful but Nick ignored it. "Sweet Cheeks had the box last," He looked into his bowl and picked a few pieces out, "She's in the supply room."

"And my shirt?"

"Sink. Give it an hour, I've put it in soak."

So he had to parade topless up to Zoey for some food? He didn't know what to think of that other than be massively embarrassed but regardless, he was still hungry so he got up. And realised the horrendous pain in his abdomen had dulled to a small pang. He was probably used to it now.

Rochelle stood up as well and waited for Ellis to move before plonking herself beside Nick, stealing his bowl at the same time. The gambler didn't attempt to get it back.

Ellis had set off down the corridor at a steady pace but the closer he got to the room Zoey was in he slowed down substantially. _Oh Jesus…_

Sure he'd been topless when she had given him his shirt back yesterday but that was only for a few minutes. He would be half naked for an hour, or until Nick remembered to retrieve his shirt from the sink.

He did want to impress but… he stopped and glanced down at himself. He had a very flat stomach, not chiselled in the slightest, though the way he'd been stitched up had pulled his skin in and it looked like he had very wonky abs. He laughed at the image.

"Ellis?"

His mouth closed and his head snapped up to the doorway the voice came from and Zoey peered round the frame, looking right back at him, the box of Cheerios just barely visible from the angle she was in. Her eyes were on his torso for a brief moment before locking onto his face. She reached into the cereal box and took a small handful then offered him some.

God he was embarrassed…

He knew he was blushing and he dipped his head slightly, trying to hide his face with the bill of… shit, he didn't put it back on.

Light crunching came from Zoey and she pulled the box back to her chest. Her mouth was still a little full when she spoke but he disregarded it, "I'll get you a bowl." And she turned, vanishing back into the room.

Ellis took three steps and poked his head round the frame. Zoey stared back, half full bowl in hand but she was sat on a table. She held it out to him and, after much hesitation, Ellis built up enough courage to retrieve his breakfast by focusing solely on the bowl and not where her eyes were probably looking at.

He was a mere foot from her when he reached to get it but she pulled it back and embraced it to her person, head tilted to the side as she stared at his face.

He was blushing again and his eyebrows shot up in slight worry and anticipation, looking back at her.

"Why did you follow me?" Her voice was soft.

He was going to say she said she'd get him a bowl but he suddenly remembered the first time she asked that question and he looked away for a moment. He had hoped she forgot about that after he dismissed it but at the same time he was impressed with how easily she didn't concede defeat when questioning him.

"I'm _really _hungry, Zoey."

She only moved the bowl behind her and reclined over it, back resting against the wall, "Tell me."

"…Zoey." Being denied food when his stomach was about to eat itself Ellis had let out a small whine and Zoey looked a tiny bit amused at the noise he made.

His mind was suddenly brilliant - maybe he could make her laugh and forget about it? She was looking very determined however, curious too, and his mind abandoned the idea before he could contemplate a random Keith story.

They reached a stalemate for a brief period, just staring at the other to see who would concede defeat first.

It was Ellis who looked away and sighed though, moving over to hoist himself onto the table beside her. Zoey didn't trust him and her hand shielded the spot between herself and the wall, guarding the bowl.

He fidgeted then reclined also. "Nick was an ass to you, an' I just wanted to see if you were fine." If he wasn't as tired as he was right now he would have probably won the staring contest. He turned his head to look at her, but she didn't look convinced.

"I said I was fine and I still am." She retorted. He'd hit that nerve again and he mentally kicked himself.

"I also wanted to thank ya for…" He looked down at his stomach and gestured to it. "…yeah…"

Zoey didn't say anything so he chanced a glance at her to catch her reaching back and producing the bowl. She offered it to him and Ellis took it, sitting upright as he didn't want to make a mess of himself, much preferring to eat over the bowl.

However before he began to eat he voiced the one question on his mind, "Why are you all here anyway?" She looked at him confusedly but he quickly added, "I-I saw a boat under the bridge and…" He trailed off; he didn't have the balls to tell her he thought he'd never see her again, so he just filled his mouth with some cereal to avoid talking any more for now.

Looking at her again he noticed her expression had softened and he was probably imagining it, but he could have sworn she was a touch closer to him than before. He swallowed, "I… 'We' actually," He rubbed his nape but carried on, "We thought you had gone somewhere."

"That was the plan."

"Oh."

She could have left it at that, Ellis wouldn't have pried any further but she locked eyes with him. "US Navy found us, forced us back inland." Her hands became interesting to her, "We saw what they did to the other boats before they came to us and we just did what they asked, head inland to prevent it going worldwide." Her head shook in what appeared to be disbelief, "They were blowing them out of the water… those that refused…"

Ellis was about to say something when her eyes met his and his lips jammed shut.

"I don't know where we were beached but it took us a week to get here." Zoey blinked slowly, not taking her eyes off his, "And then your group arrived…"

Ellis had abandoned his cereal, placing the bowl beside him, worry all over his face, "They blew us folk up? Fer tryin' to escape?"

Zoey nodded slowly, her face showing slight hints of remorse, "Carriers are wanted people Ellis. After our first encounter with the military we realised that."

"Yeah, we had to bust outta the camp we was in." The mechanic then scratched his head and licked his dry lips, missing Zoey watch his mouth for a second as he'd blinked, "Can…" He frowned and tilted his head to one side confusedly, "Can I ask why you thought we were all immune?" Zoey blinked in reply and Ellis brought his hands up defensively, "I ain't putting the blame on you – I'm not like Suit. I'm jus' curious is all."

The brunette dropped her gaze to the floor in front of her, brow furrowed in thought. He regretting asking as frowning definitely didn't suit her…

She shrugged and turned her head to look at him, "I'll be honest. I have no idea."

Ellis just frowned back, a little confused. There probably was a deeper reason but he wasn't going to pry. He didn't want to hit that nerve again but his brow rose in surprise when she carried on talking,

"But, I _think_ it's because we needed… something good to believe in…" Her breathing was a little uneven now, "after… everything…" She fell apart just then and, before she had a chance to slide off the table and leave to be alone, his body acted before his mind had even registered she was on the very verge of crying and pulled her to his chest, arms encircling her.

Her head rested in the joining of neck and shoulder as her whole body shook with her silent sobs, one arm round his back whilst her other hand pressed into his chest. And then he realised what he'd done, eyes widening in shock but it hastily evaporated at feeling her tears touch his skin.

Zoey needed this, to cry. God knows how long she'd been holding it in for but Ellis did know she would feel better afterwards so he held her tighter and gently rocked her. After all, when Rochelle let him cry on her he felt better, even if it was just a bit…

He was suddenly self-aware he hadn't washed yet and whispered sheepishly, "Sorry if I smell bad."

A puff of air on his skin indicated her amusement and she shuffled closer to him, pushing herself further into his embrace. Her nose tucked under his chin and Ellis couldn't help but smile, finding this a little amusing.

Just one day after grouping up and he was already holding his crush, albeit topless. He reddened again.

He felt her pull away from him a bit and he let his arms slide down to her waist, grip loose.

She was staring at his stomach and he swallowed, feeling his face heat up when she ran a finger around the stitched up wounds. Hugging was one thing, touching was another. "They're looking better."

His voice cracked a bit, "Yeah…" _Holy Jesus..._

Zoey leant back a bit to lock eyes with him but he redirected his gaze to the ceiling, willing his blush to die down.

"You okay?" She sounded concerned.

It worsened. "Fine." _Fuck._

He felt her touch his shoulders and push him backwards, forcing him to recline. She remained sitting up and frowned, eyes on his chest. Ellis followed her gaze and he hadn't really noticed it until now but his left pectoral was a little… raw. The skin looked loose, almost sagging but at the same time it looked incredibly taut. A few blisters were present but he noted not as many as when he first got it. It was a Spitter burn and she was staring at it, face unreadable.

"Y'ever been had at by a Spitter?" He was going to say 'Nick's mom' but that probably would have not only confused her but most likely given her nasty mental images.

"Nearly." She had reached out to touch it but reconsidered, "How…how bad was it?"

"Purdy bad. I'd taken my shirt off 'cause it was so damn hot…"

It had happened in the swamps, the Spitter had missed him but splashes of the goo had caught him. Part of him had wished he kept his damn shirt on despite the heat; it might have reduced the area affected. But, it would have melted the fabric into his skin…

His chest looked weird – his right pectoral and near centre of it had hair but where the burn was had none whatsoever.

"I don't have the best of luck either." His face screwed up in mild annoyance. He knew why though; if he didn't persist in talking to keep morale up, the infected wouldn't home in on his voice and maul him. Then again, he didn't want anyone else getting hurt and they needed the boosted morale. He chewed his bottom lip.

Zoey nudged him lightly, "There's more of us now Ellis." He looked at her, "More eyes and gunfire." She then gestured to his burn. "That shouldn't happen again…"

More eyes and gunfire but the Creeper still managed to get him. Ellis rested his head back against the wall and sighed before sitting up. "I hope so darlin'…" He picked the bowl of cereal up and went back to eating.

If he had been looking at Zoey instead of the floor in front of him, he would have caught her eyeing up all the other scars that decorated his torso.

"At the bridge, you had another man in your group." She was just curious like he was but he didn't want to talk. Not yet. He knew he should but he couldn't bring himself to do it. "What was his name?"

Ellis put the bowl down and slid off the table. Maybe when it didn't hurt as much he'd talk about losing Coach. For now though, he wanted to be alone.

Without a backwards glance, he left the room, leaving a very confused Zoey still sat on the furniture.

* * *

Everyone gets a fair share of battle scars, just be patient.


	6. Chapter 6

First off, I want to apologise for the long wait. Life got in the way. Second, I'm ill right now and thought I'd finish this off for you wonderful people. Third, I'm not happy with this chapter and may go back to fix it. Fourth, enjoy regardless :)

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It had been nowhere near an hour – the time Nick said for his shirt to be ready, but he'd spent roughly ten minutes in the bathroom just washing the rest of the gunk from his shirt, before the feeling of someone watching him clicked in his mind.

Ellis didn't look up, much preferring to wring the article of clothing out and then set to work on using the toothbrush he'd found and washed, along with the tiny tube of toothpaste. Halfway through brushing his teeth he felt the presence get closer but he closed his eyes, formulating a plan as he finished off his molars.

He spat in the sink and just as he used the water from a bottle to rinse his mouth out and clean the toothbrush off thoroughly a hand touched his good shoulder. Ellis shrugged it off and offered the toothbrush to the owner of said hand.

After a long moment the toothbrush was plucked from his fingers but set aside and the very same hand spun him round. Zoey looked at him, concerned.

If she wanted to talk about Coach, she had another thing coming. He found himself scowling at her and she backed off a little, confusion on her face and it was that very confusion that made his expression fall; she didn't know. She was just curious, like he was about her.

"Sorry." He sighed out and she just nodded, accepting his apology.

"You look tired."

Ellis sighed again and looked at the ceiling, "I'm fine…" He wasn't though, exhaustion was biting at him.

Zoey's hand touched his good shoulder again gently and when the mechanic didn't make a move to push her away, her other hand found his stomach. She was ensuring he stayed put but he reddened almost instantly anyway.

"You're not acting fine."

He locked eyes with her, brow rising a little when he realised she was saying exactly what he said to her in the room upstairs. Maybe she had caught onto him, just like he knew something was wrong with her. Ellis felt his heart speed up, anxiety building as he wondered how the hell he could deter her from asking what was wrong. Well… for now anyway.

Buying time for himself he eased her hands off his shoulder and stomach, turning to put his shirt back on. _Change the subject. _He leant over the sink after donning the article of clothing.

"We only got Cheerios fer food?" He glanced over his shoulder at her and his stomach tightened when he saw she was frowning. Seconds ticked by and realising Zoey wasn't buying it, he sighed, pushed off the basin's rim and faced her, "Any candy bars?" At that precise moment his stomach growled, clearly not happy with the small amount of cereal he had consumed before walking into this room.

Zoey looked amused as his head dipped to stare at his gut but her frown was back when his eyes met hers again. And they hit a stalemate once more.

Ellis promised himself he wouldn't concede defeat this time, but the longer he stared into the green eyes of his crush the more he was reminded of…

"Anna…"

Zoey's eyes were a little darker than Anna's and Anna was the only one who had Pa's green eyes. Caitlyn's were blue like his own.

Fear was building up in him, fear and guilt. He didn't know if his face showed it but he came to realise that every time he looked at the woman he loved, he would be reminded of little Anna, and the image of her run through flickered into his mind's eye.

He stumbled back a little, lower back pressing into the sink basin. His knuckles turned white they were gripping the edges of the object that hard. _I didn't mean to do it!_

He couldn't tell her what was wrong with him; she'd probably think he was a monster or something for murdering his own flesh and blood.

…did Anna suffer at all or was it instant when she hit the pole? He could only presume the latter as the door was closed when it happened.

Without warning he spun to face the sink and retched, fingers clutching the basin. Nothing came up however and part of him was relieved.

"Ellis?"

He knew Caitlyn's death was instant.

He dry heaved again: this was tearing him apart.

Breathing heavily, his breath hitched when Zoey touched his shoulders gently, trying to get him to look at her but he just turned his head away hissing when she brushed the burn.

"Don't." She had reached out to grasp his jaw but stopped when he spoke, "Please." His eyes locked with hers for a split second then fell from her face just as quickly, back at the sink.

Zoey nodded, hands falling from his shoulders but her gaze never left his face. Guiltily, he looked at her and was about to avert his eyes to the wall over her shoulder when she spoke, "Who's Anna?"

Ellis tensed, body freezing up and she saw this. His head spun sharply, looking behind himself, wide eyes locked onto the door as he stood upright, intent on leaving her alone again but she was expecting this and her hands gripped his arms when he turned around. He stared down at her, almost pleadingly to let him go but her grip never faltered, eyes staring back into his. He couldn't look back for too long, dropping his head to her shoulder instead as a shaky sigh escaped him.

Zoey jumped at his sudden movement but did nothing more, like she was stumped with what to do or what he wanted her to do. Ellis was grateful she didn't embrace him or else he would have broken down completely.

They remained like that for a good few minutes until Ellis picked his head up but he didn't look at her, for fear he'd see Anna impaled in his mind's eye again.

He moved away from her and she let him, but her fingers were still curled around his biceps, eyes fixed on his face. Ellis was well aware the woman before him knew something was wrong but he stood by his decision of not telling her, not wanting her thinking ill of him.

"Ellis." Her voice was stern and it was the tone alone that made him lock eyes with her. "You called me Anna." Her brow furrowed in concern and Ellis' eyes widened – so that's where the first question came from. He hadn't thought of it until now. Zoey's hand caught his chin and made him look at her when he attempted to turn away, voice soft, "Was she your girlfriend?"

His eyes screwed shut and clenched his jaw, fighting the overpowering urge to just grab her round the waist and sob into his angel's shoulder but by willpower alone he shook his head and opened his eyes.

Zoey could see how glassy they were with tears and just as she was about to move her hand down to stroke his arm, a chorus of thuds echoed from upstairs after a hollow booming sound came from the front of the building.

They reacted at roughly the same time and bolted out the bathroom, heading towards the main door.

Nick's suit was sodden with bile and he was swearing profusely, trying to wipe the green liquid from his face. Rochelle was beside him, also covered in Boomer vomit but it was only her clothes that had been splattered with the sick. In the doorway was the bottom half of the bloated infected still jiggling from the momentum of the explosion. Various liquids coated the nearby walls.

Ellis homed in on the table and picked up the closest weapon to him - a pistol - before he ran out the way of Zoey and started firing bullets back down the hallway they had just come from. With the hallway being so narrow the number of infected running towards them looked incredible and the pistol was hardly touching them.

Zoey took to firing as Ellis reloaded but didn't start shooting again until he had snatched his hat up off the floor a couple of feet from him. Placing it back on his head he began shooting as Zoey stopped to reload.

Another series of shots were being fired now but Ellis didn't turn round to see who it was as he spotted a hooded figure running towards them amongst the crowd. The Hunter was dispatched of before he could open his mouth and announce its presence, watching the corpse slump to the floor and tripping up the infected behind it.

And then the floor began to shake shortly before a large chunk of the back wall was punched in by a humongous fist. The debris scattered and flattened a few of the infected.

"RUN!" Louis didn't need to say it twice as he hastily ran out the door. Shooting would have been an option but pistols hardly did anything to the hulking mass known as a Tank, plus they were low on ammunition.

Infected were being thrown aside as the Tank charged through to get to the six survivors. Francis was last out of the door and wasted no time in overtaking the mechanic and conman, turning a sharp left to take the lead with Louis.

Nick's shoes were coated in bile as it dripped off his suit making him slip, only to stumble into the exhausted southerner. Ellis nearly fell over the third time Nick collided with him.

A loud bellow echoed out from the warehouse, followed by a bang as the Tank forced its way through the narrow doorway after them. Then it began to home in on them, the Boomer vomit covering Nick was undeniably helping it and what was left of an outer wall crumbled to nothing as it bulldozed through like it was made of paper.

The conman stumbled again and this time Ellis fell when the suited man collided with him. Nick remained standing and dashed past him, unaware he'd knocked the younger man over.

Ellis only cried out when he hit the ground and he realised it was always his burn that got bashed. He rolled slightly then clutched at the broken skin, cursing himself for landing on it. He tried getting back onto his feet but two infected had sprinted over the moment he landed and began punching him, not caring what part of him they impacted either. Another one joined in and Ellis shielded his head with his good arm but when the infected man near his stomach stood up he wailed as the foot collided with his stitches. He might as well just leave the damn cuts open considering how many times they'd split.

He groped for his pistol but the repetitive kicks and punches he was getting made it impossible. A fourth infected scurried over and started punching him as well. In a vain attempt to make them stop, Ellis threw his fist out and batted the woman away. The man nearest his arm suddenly grasped his wrist and sunk his teeth into his skin.

Adrenaline kicked in and the mechanic twisted his torso to free his bad arm before he threw poorly aimed punches at the man's head that was repeatedly biting him. Two gunshots rang out and the man kicking him and another punching him fell to the floor, bullet holes in their heads.

Ellis sat up and tried to wrench the infected's mouth off his arm but he had to stop when blood spurted forth and he kicked the man in the chest in desperation when he felt the teeth clamp harder. A grunt escaped the infected as the wind was knocked out of him and his teeth slid down the mechanic's arm. Skin tore with it, sections getting stuck on the few broken incisors and molars and before Ellis knew it, parts of his lower forearm had been skinned as the man relinquished his grip and fell over.

Nick suddenly noticed Ellis wasn't near him and he stumbled, applying the brakes before he rushed back to help the mechanic up, shooting the last infected in the shoulder then head with slightly inaccurate shots.

The conman was shy of two feet from Ellis when something shot out from over the remains of a warehouse and snapped around his chest. Nick let out an 'urk' and almost snapped in two when he was abruptly stopped. The appendage coiled further round his torso and wasted no time in reeling him in, forcing Nick to tumble backwards as the tip of the tongue found his neck.

The Georgian reached for his pistol and tried firing at the tongue but the pain in his arm from the bite was too much and his aiming was too wide. He cursed again and swore, dropping his gun and shaking his injured arm as if the action would quell the incredible sting.

More accurate bullets rained out in the direction of the tall and lanky infected but none hit the target and Nick was soon dragged, clawing desperately at the Smoker's tongue around his throat, up and over the rubble. Seconds passed and the forms of Rochelle and Francis bolted after him.

Louis was by Ellis' side quickly and with a bit of help from Zoey keeping the rabid infected at bay, hoisted the mechanic back onto his feet. Ellis hissed a small thanks through his clenched teeth to the darker skinned man as he held his bad arm close to his chest. Though he was in agony, he retrieved his pistol and was about to help Rochelle and Francis get Nick when the Tank came barrelling round the corner.

A badly mangled car was swatted to the side and it lay upside down, one of the wheels spinning like the punch had dazed it. The Tank roared and charged at the three survivors but before it had taken two bounds on its ginormous gorilla-like arms, a huge explosion suddenly engulfed it.

Zoey had taken initiative and shot the exposed gas tank of the upturned car, a single shot as well and she laughed in amazement at herself, lowering her pistol.

From the ball of thick smoke something moved and mere seconds later was flung out.

Ellis seemed to forget he was in pain; jumping at Zoey and bringing her to the floor as the near perfectly aimed skeleton of the car crashed down behind them. Louis had thrown himself the other way.

The sudden blast of adrenaline coursing through his system had the mechanic back on his feet and was firing rounds at the burning mass's head, lumbering out of the thinning smoke. He really was risking using his ammunition on this thing as the wound on his arm made his shots incredibly inaccurate but since it was on fire and it had taken the full brunt of an explosion, he figured it wouldn't take many bullets. The infected near it had been taken clean out by the explosion and no more seemed to be coming anyway.

The Tank gurgled, took a huge stride towards the form of Louis, who was nearest, and then it collapsed. Flesh still sizzling.

Ellis immediately holstered his pistol then held his arm close to his chest again, nursing it as blood dripped off his elbow and was absorbed by his shirt. He wondered why they bothered washing it. A small rough piece of gravel he'd picked up from the floor rubbed against his wound and he wailed, nearly doubling over as he held his arm out, grasping what wasn't skinned with his other.

Plus side, his burn didn't hurt any more.

Another hand joined his and Ellis yelped, trying to back away but Louis anticipated his movement and tried to calm him down.

Francis was the first to appear over the rubble, followed by Rochelle and a very pissed off Nick. The latter had a blue and black bruise around the whole base of his throat and he was wheezing a little, the Smoker had winded him slightly after crushing his chest and diaphragm.

When Nick glanced over to glare daggers at the hick his expression faltered but only slightly when he saw just how much blood was escaping his arm – it was dripping onto the floor and had made a puddle.

Rochelle spotted Ellis and immediately ran over, panic-stricken and Nick understood why, also felt the same; they didn't want to lose another member. And despite how much he loathed the kid right now, Nick briskly walked over, his poker face hiding his worry perfectly.

"What happened to him?" The dark-skinned woman took over from Louis' hold and even though Ellis had quietened down, his nostrils were flared and he was red in the face, brow knitted together in a desperate attempt to control the pain he was in.

"One of those bastards bit him." Nick spat angrily, but whether the anger was directed at the infected or at Ellis was unknown. Ellis flinched nonetheless at the tone and avoided eye contact with the conman, hissing when his pain receptors screamed at him again.

"Does anyone have any gauze on them?" Rochelle looked between them all and smiled briefly at Francis when he produced the needed supply, even if it was just enough to wrap around Ellis' arm twice. Nick threw the biker a dirty glance and Ellis very nearly caught it but yelped when Rochelle began tightly winding the bandage around the worst of his wound in an attempt to close it up temporarily. She also decided to look at it properly when they were safely inside another building.

There was no tape but Ellis had come up with an idea. He slipped his better-off arm through the sleeve of his ruined shirt and pulled it over his head one-handed. He kept his other arm through the sleeve but pushed his shirt to cover his forearm and very tightly wrapped his already bloody article of clothing around it, holding it painfully close to his person to prevent it from unravelling.

Louis and Francis caught sight of the Spitter burn on his pectoral and Francis visibly winced. What made it worse was that the pain in Ellis' arm had made him oblivious to the number of burst blisters on that part of his body. The infected had popped them all when they were punching him. If it wasn't for the fact that his eyes weren't yellow, he would have easily been mistaken as an infected.

It was another warehouse they had found after an hour of walking and much to the group's delight there was food stashed at the back of one of the drawers in the top floor office. The problem was it was a small bag of pretzels and although they were still in date, they were sour cream and chive flavoured.

Ellis was sat on a table and wrinkled his nose at the share of pretzels he had in his free hand; they smelled like they'd gone off but his stomach was screaming at him to eat and much to his disgust, he began eating the oddly flavoured snack. But when he saw that Zoey was actually enjoying them, he thought they weren't so bad either until he offered her the rest of his. He wiped his hand off from the salt and received a light smack from Rochelle, who was tending to his skinned arm.

"Don't move around or I'm gonna mess this up." He was about to ask what part of bandaging she could mess up with when he realised she was cleaning his arm and was dabbing the patches of skin that had dared to stay attached to his body; it looked like he had put his arm through a paper shredder. His body had numbed the pain with the help of some pills but where the skin was loose it still hurt.

There was a bottle of water on the side with a few plastic cups nearby and he reached over to get a drink, throat dry from the salty snack, but when he reached out to the bottle a white sleeve stole it away. Nick glared at him and Ellis flinched, gingerly picking the nearest white cup up and slowly hold it out.

Nick just snorted, knowing Ellis was silently asking for the cup to be filled but he folded his arms, bottle still in his grasp, "I'll let you drink when you tell me why you let your stupid hayseed fantasies put all of us in danger."

Ellis just frowned in confusion, Rochelle frowned too but in irritation, and Ellis had only managed to move his mouth to ask what he was talking about before Nick's temper flared,

"I know it's usual for your kind to dream about screwing your cousins but when a Tank is bearing down on our asses-"

Rochelle stood up abruptly and that action alone made Nick stop mid-sentence but he hastily formed another one.

"Is Anna a stupid cousin of yours? Maybe your mother _and_ sister?" His brow was that creased in rage Ellis couldn't help but stare for a moment until those questions sunk in.

He slid off the table and the plastic cup in his large hand was instantly crushed and he drew that very same fist back. Nick had enough time to just lift his eyebrows in surprise before Ellis crashed his fist into his face and sent the conman to the floor.

The water bottle went flying and nearly hit Francis.

Instantly, Nick's nostrils started to bleed and he stared up at Ellis in bewilderment, startled the younger man who was always so annoyingly optimistic could show anger. The cup in Ellis' hand was tossed aside and Nick regained his composure, hastily standing back up he was about to throw his own punch into Ellis' face but the mechanic anticipated his retaliation and blocked it with his good arm.

Ellis suddenly seized the conman by his suit and by twisting his grip slightly he managed to pick the taller man up. Surprise flickered across Nick's eyes for a second, realising the southerner must be that angry he was ignoring the state his arm was in, but he recovered and snarled, slamming his hands down onto the larger ones of the hillbilly.

Francis and Louis had stood up the second Ellis threw that punch but were now a couple of feet from them, ready to jump in if anything else happened.

Ellis didn't surrender the grip he had and ignored the glare, giving Nick one of his own right back when he brought the man a little closer so he could be heard, "Don't you _ever_ talk 'bout Anna like that again, ya hear?" Nick didn't reply and after a few moments of glowering at one another, Ellis extended his arms and dropped Nick onto his feet before making his way over to where the water bottle had wound up, having bounced to the office door.

"Overalls."

He was about to turn around, automatically reacting to the nickname like he always did but he caught himself mid-turn and picked the bottle up instead, making it look like a convincing fluid movement. Taking a swig from the bottle and tightening the cap back on, he threw it back into the corner and stormed out, picking up the AK along the way.

Rochelle threw Nick the dirtiest look she could muster and all the conman did was run a hand down his face and look at where the mechanic used to be.

Neither of them had seen Ellis react like that before to Nick's comments. Usually he'd snap back or laugh them off. Ellis never did angry.

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What bothers me is that people portray the infected as flesh eaters, when in game they punch, kick and claw at you. We bite when we need to, and that's what the bitey infected did.

I know I'm being cruel to Ellis right now but he'll have a turn of good luck soon, got plans for Nick to be next then Francis =P For the record, I've been skinned before, and I know exactly how much it hurts D8


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